Day-Care Probe Nearing Completion

Federal officials investigating molestation allegations at two day-care centers on the Point Mugu Navy base have wound down their probe and will decide whether to file charges later this month, a base spokesman said Thursday.

“We are expecting to get briefed within a week or two,” Navy spokesman Alan Alpers said. “We’re still waiting for the U.S. attorney to come forth with a report.”

All but a handful of the 40 task force members brought in last month to interview parents, children and employees have gone home, Alpers said. More work remains, but the bulk of the investigation is completed, he said.

The probe began March 21, when an unidentified toddler at the Point Mugu Child Development Center informed his or her parents of being molested by a male employee.

The employee under investigation was put on paid leave, and for two days officials closed both the Child Development Center for preschoolers and the Youth Activities Center, an after-school program for 5- to 12-year-olds.

Both centers reopened last week with added security measures, including video cameras. Meanwhile, another in a series of parent meetings is scheduled for Monday night at the base chapel.

If no charges are filed, the employee might return to teaching at the center, Alpers said. But it’s possible that the man, who has worked at Point Mugu for about five years, would be reassigned, he said. Officials with the FBI and the U.S. attorney’s office declined to discuss the ongoing investigation Thursday.